Boys and Girls Cross Country teams place at state meet
Holly Ratcliff
Cross country boys and girls finished their season strong with an impressive showing at state. The boys placed 2nd, tying their best ever finish, and the girls placed 6th with their second best ever finish.
"I'm very proud of my team," Coach Amy Stewart said. "They met all the goals and expectations that I had for them at the beginning of the season."
The boys cross country team has traveled to the storied finale in Austin for the past fourteen years now, the last two years receiving the distinguishment of runner-up.
"It was one of my favorite seasons in my 14 years," Coach Josh Stewart said. "We didn't have any major injuries or major illnesses out of the top seven. They come out every day and give 110%, and we had some bad races, but we finished with a good race."
The boys and girls had great team races with some stellar individual races as well, including Christina Hernandez's overall 3rd place finish!
"Like our regional course, state was muddy, wet, and cold," Hernandez said. "It definitely was a tough race, but being able to race in worse conditions at the Region 3 meet made state easier. We knew how to trudge through the mud swiftly and push through the rain and wind. Overall, it was a great experience that made us stronger racers."
While Hernandez and most of both teams will undoubtedly return to state next year, the season ends with three varsity girl runners and two varsity boy runners closing the curtain on their high school cross country careers.
"[State] was really fun, and certainly for my last year running it was very memorable." Senior Emma Godfrey said. "I couldn't have thought of a better way to end my high school cross country career."
Emma Godfrey, Holly Ratcliff, and Tara Bentley will be graduating and leaving the girls' team, while Tedron Roberts and Jesus Ramos will be graduating and leaving the boys' team.
"The season was amazing," Roberts said. "I got to run with a team that is great in everything that they do, and I am going to strongly miss them when I graduate."
Before the year wraps up though, these runners have some more miles.
"We're going to immediately start training for track and getting ready, and hopefully we'll go to state again and take home a few more medals," Godfrey said.
While most sports get a sigh of relief and some much needed rest after their season, runners go full throttle in the fall and spring with cross country and track seasons.
"We'll be running through Thanksgiving break, we'll take Thanksgiving day off, and we'll start gearing up for track season," Coach Josh Stewart said.
Cross country season has come to a close with a fantastic finish, and track season is ready to begin.
Who knows what is in store for these incredible teams, because "this season was totally awesome!!!!" Hernandez said.
Additional settings for Safari Browser.
